ABC Scores its Best Numbers with Comedy Programming in the 9pm Hour Since 2009

Early info on ABC’s Tuesday, ahead of the regular press release.

With DWTS: All-Stars, the season premieres of Happy Endings and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 and Private Practice, ABC ran as the 2nd-most-watched TV network on Tuesday to CBS, outdrawing NBC (with The Voice) by 7% and Fox (with The X-Factor) by 70%.

Surging by double digits from its first half-hour to its second half-hour, Part 2 of ABC’s DWTS: All-Stars performance show took 2nd place from 8-9pm with Total Viewers, beating NBC’s The Voice by 17%. In addition, DWTS dominated Fox’s comedies (Raising Hope/Ben and Kate) by 38% with Adults 18-49.

· Growing over the prior week’s Results Show by 10% in Adults 18-49, DWTS: All-Stars scored ABC’s best performance in the hour in 8 months – since 2/7/12.

In the 9pm half-hour, the season premiere of ABC’s Happy Endings topped Fox’s New Girl by 13% in Total Viewers.

· Soaring over its season finale in April with viewers (+59%) and young adults (+12%), Happy Endings scored its largest audience since February and its top Adult 18-49 number since March – since 2/29/12 and 3/14/12, respectively.

· Happy Endings delivered ABC’s best performance with comedy programming in the half-hour in Total Viewers in nearly 4 years and in Adults 18-49 in almost 3 years – since 1/6/09 and 12/8/09, respectively.

From 930-10pm, ABC’s season premiere of Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 finished second in its slot among Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34, beating its NBC comedy competition (The New Normal) by solid double-digit margins.

· The sophomore ABC series turned in the Net’s strongest performance with comedy programming in the slot in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 since December 2009 – since 12/1/09.

· Growing over the prior week’s “Results Show” by 10% in Adults 18-49, “DWTS: All-Stars” scored ABC’s best performance in the hour in 8 months – since 2/7/12.

“Happy Endings” (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

In the 9:00 p.m. half-hour, the season premiere of ABC’s “Happy Endings” topped Fox’s “New Girl” by 13% in Total Viewers (5.9 million vs. 5.2 million).

· Soaring over its season finale in April with viewers (+59%) and young adults (+12%), “Happy Endings” scored its largest audience (5.9 million) since February and its top Adult 18-49 number (1.9/5) since March – since 2/29/12 and 3/14/12, respectively.

· “Happy Endings” delivered ABC’s best performance with comedy programming in the half-hour in Total Viewers in nearly 4 years and in Adults 18-49 in almost 3 years – since 1/6/09 and 12/8/09, respectively.

“Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23” (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

From 9:30-10:00 p.m., ABC’s season premiere of “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23” finished second in its slot among Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34, beating its NBC comedy competition (“The New Normal”) by solid double-digit margins.

· The sophomore ABC series turned in the Net’s strongest performance with comedy programming in the slot in both Total Viewers (4.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/4) since December 2009 – since 12/1/09.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 46% currently, from 42% at the same point in 2011. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 10/23/12.